Whittier woman runs weekend nightclub for plus-sized people

Club Bounce proprietor Lisa Marie Garbo of Whittier, operates her nightclub out of the Long Beach Golden Sails Hotel on Pacific Coast Highway. She is pictured at the establishment across from the Marina Pacifica Mall
May 8, 2009.

WHITTIER - Lisa Marie Garbo knows a thing or two about feeling comfortable in her own skin.

After struggling with her weight most of her life, the 40-year-old Whittier native decided it was time to create a place where people like her could enjoy themselves freely.

She now owns a Long Beach nightclub where fat is, well, phat. Club Bounce, 6285 Pacific Coast Highway, caters specially to plus-sized people. It has been so successful that Garbo plans to add a location in Hollywood and has a new one in Phoenix.

"Club Bounce is a size-acceptance nightclub," Garbo said. "People of larger shapes and sizes can go and feel comfortable, accepted and desired and not feel like they're second-class citizens for being overweight."

Aside from being nightclub maestra on the weekends, Garbo, a distant cousin to Hollywood film noir bombshell Greta, is an activist for size acceptance, and sees overweight people as the last accepted targets for discrimination by society.

"There's no sensitivity, there's no understanding," she said. "(People) can make fun of you and nothing will happen to them for it."

Her nightclub can hold as many as 400 and she has many regulars, she said. Many appreciate her efforts.

"I've aways liked going to clubs and hanging out with friends, but in a typical bar there would always be somebody who would ruin my night by making comments," said Jennifer Ward, 36, of Santa Ana. "I like that safety of knowing that when I walk through that door, no one's judging me. I feel accepted and I have fun."

Not everyone thinks the idea is good though.

"It's a double-edged sword," said Frederick Elias, professor of psychology at Cal State Northridge. "It's really nice of her to cater to people so they can feel comfortable but the other side of the sword is you're reinforcing the heaviness."

Elias recommended plus-sized people face their fears and go out to regular bars.

"The point is to have the person confront and deal with their own self-image and self-esteem and confront their fears," he said. "A lot of people have good intentions and God bless them for that, but are you really helping someone or enabling them?"

But Ward said she enjoys the relaxed atmosphere and feeling of acceptance at Bounce, even as she strives to lose weight.

"What I learned form Lisa is you don't have to wait to live your life, you don't have to wait to have fun," she said. "Be happy with who you are."

Garbo added she does not promote being overweight but said Bounce is a haven for people struggling with weight issues.

"In so many areas of life, we are not accepted, we are constantly told by society that we need to lose weight," she said. "In mainstream nightclubs a plus-sized person is not embraced as they would be at Club Bounce."